The effectiveness of cognitive instructions when children provide true and false eyewitness reports of another’s transgression
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21177976 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joshua Wyman (0000-0001-5960-5686, Ontario Tech University, corresponding author), Donia Tong (0000-0002-4281-7348, McGill University), Ida Foster (McGill University), Angela M Crossman (0000-0001-7430-8225, John Jay College of Criminal Justice), Angela Crossman (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), Victoria Talwar (0000-0001-9806-0279, McGill University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 290-307 |
| Publication date | 2022-05-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Police Practice and Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1561-4263 • E-ISSN: 1477-271X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/15614263.2021.1954923 |
| OpenAlex | W3185915790 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
Children’s non-disclosures of another’s wrongdoing, particularly in cases involving alleged maltreatment, is a notable concern among forensic professionals. The current study was designed to provide these professionals with much needed information about the efficacy of a range of interviewing strategies, namely free-recall, cognitive instructions and closed-ended questions, when children are asked to conceal the transgression of an adult. After being asked to falsely deny a theft they witnessed, children (ages 8 to 13; N = 104) were interviewed using either the cognitive instructions (n = 52) or a Standard Interview (n = 52). Two raters coded the children’s: (1) report honesty; (2) number of words used; (3) number of Transgression Details disclosed; (4) number of events recalled; (5) temporal order accuracy; and (6) number of theft disclosures made. Children produced longer testimonies with more Transgression Details, disclosures and events on the interview with the cognitive instructions, without compromising temporal order accuracy. However, there were no interview differences in overall report honesty. Overall, the free-recall reports had the most words, along with more Transgression Details, theft disclosures and events recalled. The reverse-order recall was the most effective cognitive instruction for increasing the amount of events recalled. Overall, the cognitive instructions increased the amount of information and disclosures about the theft, but they did not discourage false reporting
Cognition · Cognitive interview · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Eyewitness testimony · False Memory · Honesty · Interview · Marine transgression · Psychiatry · Recall · Wrongdoing · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Law · Memory Processes and Influences · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Social Psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |